Dawson Valley Free Range

Dawson Valley Free Range

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Market Time

We have decided to head to the markets. Part of my "thing" is to really connect with our customers and have been looking forward to the time when we start going to the markets! That time is here!

We will be at the Yeppoon Community Markets held at the Showgrounds on Saturday - yes, this Saturday! So if you are in the area, please come on down and say "Gidday!".

If you don't live in Yeppoon, but know someone who does, please tell them about us. Tell them if they want to see what Pork should taste like, then they need to come down and talk to us!

Thanks to everyone for their continued support!


Oh.....we are also Human Choice certified! That is the certification for TRUE free range!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Pork Orders for June

Just a reminder that orders will close by Friday this week. So get it in straight away to avoid disappointment!

Matt from Monto Meats, who does our butchering said that people don't think of pork as winter food.....I hope that's not true. Maybe I need to talk about some of the yummy warm dishes you can make:
  • Curried Pork - use diced pork or spare ribs
  • Curried Pork chops - marinate the pork in a mix of yoghurt and curry paste and bake in the oven - serve with rice, dhal and curried vegetables
  • Sweet and Sour Pork
  • Pork Meatballs - cooked in either coconut milk or stock, with vegies and noodles
  • Roast Pork - leg or belly - someone told me about a belly cooked in milk - I need to explore this idea
  • Pulled Pork Tortillas - request a pork shoulder piece for this one
  • Braised spare ribs
  • Braised Trotters
  • Spaghetti Bolognaise (using pork mince)
  • Meatloaf/mince patties/rissoles.
This is just my quick list....I'll have to think of some more and also post some recipes......

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Nitrate Free and Colour

I've had a query about the colour of the Nitrate Free Ham and Bacon. The picture above shows a conventional ham on the right and NF ham and bacon on the left. The conventional ham is the colour that you normally expect ham to be. With the NF ham and bacon it can be a pinky/browny colour. This is due to the fact that it is the Nitrate Chemical that makes the ham and bacon pink. It also preserves it and does help to carry the smoke flavour through the meat. If you've had NF ham and thought it tasted a bit "porky" that's because the smoke flavour hasn't carried through. This is not noticeable with the bacon, as the bacon is a lot thinner and the smoke flavour penetrates. When I say smoke flavour, I don't mean that it's a flavouring, because it is proper wood smoked ham and bacon.

My last post was about nitrates etc, and you may have already read the links on that post. Processors that sell Nitrate Free ham often use celery juice. This is a natural nitrate, but a nitrate nevertheless. It will mean that the ham will still be pink, because it's the nitrate (artificial or natural) that causes it to go pink. I hope I have cleared this up, however if you have any questions or concerns about it, please comment below and I will respond. At least doing it this way if people have a question, it usually means that others may have the same question.

Stay tuned, because my next post will be about hairs on our pigs......